"Sos de Argentina?"

Auténtico?A woman asked me if I was Argentine while I was trying to buy a 5 peso sandwich. I made a scoffing noise, thinking that she was joking and responded, "claro que no! (of course not). She seemed taken aback, almost offended and asked me why I responded in that way. I answered her saying that I didn't look Argentine, so of course I wasn't Argentine. She waved at me jokingly dismissive and said that appearance means nothing. When going out with other study abroad students, we often begin pondering over whether the experiences that we’ve had in Argentina are authentic Argentine experiences. When this discussion comes up, I usually find myself thinking: “What does that mean? Who gets to decide what are authentic Argentine experiences? Why do we care? Being black in Argentina, can I really have an authentic experience here when constantly being bombarded with questions of my origin? I don’t have the option of spending my time here in Argentina as if I was Argentine because I am not. Furthermore, the life experiences of Argentines are so diverse, I’m sure that they wouldn’t agree amongst each other 100% what are authentic Argentine experiences. Authentic Argentine is much more than just the sexiness of tango or the deliciousness of empanadas or the richness of dulce de leche. What makes Cumbia any less authentic than Tango? Or Gaucho Gill less authentic than Maradonna? There was a time when Tango was considered too vulgar and was dismissed from Argentine society and the gauchos were killed for being considered barbarian. Maradonna, who doesn't look how Argentines are projected to, is a hero in the country. All of which one would consider a part of authentic Argentina.

I often find myself questioning whether my relationships with Argentines are authentic or not. As a black person in a mostly white country, I noticed that when most Argentines meet me they can’t move past the fact that I’m black or even the fact that I’m American. I don’t feel like they are treating me as they would another Argentine. I am still not sure whether this means that my relationships with those types of Argentines are authentic or not. However, for now I have decided that I will not torment myself too much over this question. I have preoccupied myself plenty with wondering if my experiences would be any similar or diferent that someone who speaks better spanish (castellano) than me, or has a fairer shade than I do, to the point where I didn't know how to express my experiences without interjecting something about race. It's something that I'm still battling with seeing how when walking through a bar that's deemed an "authentic" Argentine bar, everyone turns to you and all eyes are on you or you're shouted "Brasileña" and all you want to do is have a drink, relax and fit in. haha. I've come to accept that, authentic or not, these are my experiences, and I have some great stories to share.